Plecs Plants and Yellow labs.

[LilBangarang]

Hey everybody,

I am getting 3-5 yellow labs and wanted a dwarf pleco. I came across clown plecos and love them so much. I am wondering if they have specific dietary needs or if I can give them algae pellets and the occasional cucumber or zucchini. Can they coexist with yellow labs and some other kind of bottom cat. Please o please dont give me the usual no cichlids with other fish because it is Also what are some good plants that my cichlids wont eat?

 

[HUKIT]

As far as the plecs are concerned it's a hit or miss depending on your individual fish, labs in general are a little more relaxed than most mbuna. Just make sure there's ample spots for him to hide. As far as diet I feed mine NLS wafers and they refuse to eat any veggies. It's strange because my Africans killed three albino BN but never even gave the black ones a second look. Last I would try to find a plec the same size or even bigger than the labs if possible, seems to cut down on the temptation to kill them when they're equal sizes.

Btw who told you that cichlids can't be housed with other fish?

 

[LilBangarang]

Soooo many people told me that. What are other good fish for labs other than synos?

 

[HUKIT]

What are the dimensions of your tank? If remember this is a 45g correct? This will decide on tankmates. I would skip the labs and stick with a smaller dwarf mbuna like Saulosi, you get the yellow and blue. They stay smaller with a max size of 4" and are very easy going. Most mbuna really do better in longer tanks to help with territory issues which lowers aggression.

 

[LilBangarang]

Okay. At this point, I have 3 giant danios. I got them to make sure my tank was cycled and it is. I have some anachris, and some rock caves. It is a 4ft tank, 40 gallon. I can't tear myself away from the labs. I would get a clown pleco because they only get like 4", just like labs, giant danios, and loaches for about 5 years in a 40 gal. I was thinking of getting maybe 3 cories as well. Do you think that I should try this or not?

 

[CorporateGranola]

I love my clown pleco....but - I almost never see him. He stays hidden underneath his piece of driftwood nearly 100% of the time. I occasionally see him when I'm doing a PWC, only because I have to disturb his driftwood to clean properly. If you are expecting to see him interacting with the other fish, you might be barking up the wrong fish. Very docile fish, but also very elusive. YMMV

 

[Kat1103]

I wouldn't put loaches, cories or danios with labs. IMO they are too aggressive to be housed with those fish. But I do agree with HUKIT, that labs are probably the least aggressive of the mbunas, but I still wouldn't risk it. If you still want the labs get rid of the danios or they may become lunch. But I think you would be fine with a BN pleco. As far as plants go, I don't have any real ones with my labs. But I've heard that java fern and anubias work well with cichlids.

 

[HUKIT]

Loaches are absolutely ok with mbuna, I've been keeping clowns with mbuna for over 15 years without a single incident. But not in your case, I feel the tank is to small to house anything but the labs your dead set on. There's no way the labs will catch a giant diano but the they need more space so rehome them and skip the corys, they belong in schools of seven or more and are like little stoner hippies just cruising around....they will get killed. Stick with labs only and maybe toss in a BN.

 

[Freshwater guy]

Loaches are absolutely ok with mbuna, I've been keeping clowns with mbuna for over 15 years without a single incident. But not in your case, I feel the tank is to small to house anything but the labs your dead set on. There's no way the labs will catch a giant diano but the they need more space so rehome them and skip the corys, they belong in schools of seven or more and are like little stoner hippies just cruising around....they will get killed. Stick with labs only and maybe toss in a BN.

My labs killed 3 panda Corys over night. I woke up to find my newly added corys drifting along the bottom of the tank without a single fin to speak of.

 

[LilBangarang]

Do you mean that loaches will get to big, because I can get yoyos

 

[HUKIT]

In that size tank with stocking labs you don't have any room for more fish.

 

[LilBangarang]

Okay. I might start a community tank. Should I follow the 1 gallon per inch?

 

[HUKIT]

Okay. I might start a community tank. Should I follow the 1 gallon per inch?

That's a very old myth to stocking fish and would only really apply to little fish like neons and such. Just research the stock list and post if you have any questions.

 

[Kat1103]

Try aquaadvisor.com it can help guide u when stocking your tank